There are not many geysers on earth. They are
rare geologic features. All earth's geysers get their name from a
large geyser in Iceland. The name sake for all the world's geysers
is the Great Geysir. Etymologically, Geysir has it roots in the Old
Norse word geysa which means to gush or rush forth. The
Icelandic people are very proud of their geyser. In fact its name,
Geysir, is copyrighted. The word geyser is an eponym. What is an
eponym? Look on the bottom of this page for the answer.

Geysir is to Iceland what Old Faithful is to Yellowstone. A
symbol that people identify with Iceland and its natural wonders.
And like Old Faithful, its image appears on stamps, commemorative
coins and a whole host of curios such as cups, glasses, plates,
t-shirts and yes even the occasional tie. They love their geyser in
Iceland even when it is not erupting regularly. It is still a
national symbol. It is still the Great Geysir, the namesake of all
the worlds geysers, even that other famous geyser Old Faithful. The
Yellowstone geyser may be more faithful than Geysir but not more
loved.

It is interesting there
aren't more curios and remembrances of Strokkur. But then how many
are there of Grand, Beehive and Fountain at the Hamilton Stores in
Yellowstone?

Long before most of the world knew
of the wonders of Yellowstone and before Old Faithful had been given
its now familiar name, Europeans marveled at the thermal wonders of
Iceland. The greatest of these wonders was the mighty Great Geysir.
Explorers, naturalists, and travelers made drawings, etchings and
paintings to convey the power wonder and majesty of this natural
fountain. These art works found their way to a curious public
wanting to learn more of strange new places with volcanoes and
geysers. The earliest reference to Geysir was in 1294 following a
large earthquake in the Haukadal valley area. The geyser was
apparently active following this time though not much is known about
its active till 1630 when after about a 40 year dormancy the Geysir
was again awaken by a large earthquake.It reportedly played as often as about
every 3 hours . By the 1800's
Geysir was a great attraction in Iceland. 19th-century tourists
marveled at its 240 foot-high eruption. By the end of the 19th
century had slowed to about 3 eruptions a day and alas, tourists,
impatient to see an eruption, tried to stimulate an eruption by
throwing peat and rocks into the throat of the geyser. They threw so
many rocks into Geysir that they may have damaged it by partially
blocking its throat. By 1915 the Geysir was dormant. It is not clear
whether the dormancy was due to a shift in heat and water
underground ( a change of function )or because of the abuse to which
the geyser was subjected. You will find the geyser on my list of damaged or destroyed geysers.
The geyser did erupt in 1935 for a brief period but retuned to
dormancy. Some times in later years for show an eruption was
induced by putting soap into the geyser. This causes the geyser to
erupt but also further damages the plumbing system of the geyser.
Inductions of eruptions of Geysir are now reportedly prohibited in
hopes that the geyser may heal and return to activity. It is a shame
this magnificent feature has been damaged by mans carelessness.
Then on June 17th and 21st
2000 history repeated itself.
After a series of earthquakes in the area, Geysir has began to erupt
again. Current eruptions do not reach the magnitude of the old one
being only 8 to 10 meters in height. Check out my iceland page for
links to more information and pictures. See geyser description below
for a brief review of this new activity.

The Geysir geothermal area
which is named after the famous Great Geysir is located at
Haukadalur in the Valley of Haukadal. It is located in a area of
active rifting and volcanism on the western edge of Iceland. This is
an area where the Atlantic rift comes onshore. This geologic feature
is well exposed in
Thingvellir National Park located
in the nearby vicinity of the geyser basin. Temperatures in the
subsurface at Geysir reach over 200°C at 1 km of depth. The Thermal
area is located about 125 kilometers east of the capital city of
Reykjavik. The Geyser basin itself is small at just a 3 km³ or about
1 square mile.

MAP OF ICELAND

Photo Credit: Photo of Geysir
from Embassy of Iceland web site

AN EPONYMNow a quick change from the subject of geology
and geysers to language. (Sorry, I live with my wife, the writer,
and she is making me do this).

Geysir,
linguistically speaking, is an eponymsomething or someone that
gives its name to everything of its type, in this case the English
word geyser. Geology has other eponymsfor example, every volcano
on Earth is named for Vulcano, off the coast of Italy.

The picture above left shows Geysir on one
of Iceland's very rare sunny days. Note the soap all over the
place, and the large crowd that came to see it when the eruption
was induced.
Geysir erupts from a circular 8 ft. vent in the middle of a circular
60 ft. shallow pool, on top of a huge mound. Its historic 50-60-m
high eruption began as boiling over the vent, which turns into
massive (very very wide considering the size of the vent) bursting
which last 30 minutes or more. These bursts reach 60 or even 100 ft.
The pool level is maintained during this time.
Then the amazing part happens. The bursting from a full pool ends
abruptly, and the pool drains completely as fast as the water can
fall into the vent. Everything is left high and dry, and all is
quiet for a minute or two. Then . . . POW! The eruption begins
again, in cone type fashion, with an instantaneous shot to great
height. This eruption is characterized by very narrow and enormously
powerful jetting. Heights over 200 ft. are common. Eruptions
approaching 100 meters have been recorded. Induced eruptions (like
the one in the picture) are significantly smaller than natural ones.
The water gradually runs out, and the water column is replaced by a
high pressure steam column. This steam phase is very powerful, and
lasts several hours. Geysir has ,however, been dormant except
for induced eruptions, like the one in the photograph, since 1935.

On the 17th and 21st June 2000, following
large earthquakes in Southern Iceland, Geysir started to erupt after
having been dormant since 1935. Now it erupts at least every day and
sometimes several times per day, but has not regained its former
heights of 50-60 m. Now it erupts 8-10 m but does it intermittently
for some time when it starts. These current eruptions start as
turbulence at the surface, then gushes of water are thrown 8-10 m
into the air. As the erupting water falls back into the vent it
cools the water in the vent and the boiling stops.

Old
postcard showing Geysir in eruption. Date and
photographer unknown.

Óşerrishola (the non-draught-hole, or
the rainmaker), - Currently Active Irregular

Litli Geysir (the small Geysir) -Inactive

Litli Strokkur (the little Strokkur).
-Inactive

Konungshver (the king's hot spring)
Hot Springs

Blesi (the blazer) Hot Springs

The largest active geyser in the Geysir
basin is Strokkur (churn). It erupts about every 8 minutes to
heights of 30 to 40 meters. Strokkur first appeared after an
earthquake in 1789. It erupted until 1896 when reportedly it ceased
erupting and went dormant following another earthquake. In 1963 man
intervened and thoroughly cleaned the geyser's vent. It has been the
main performer in the geyser area since that time.

The other active geyser in the basin is
Oşerrishola which is highly irregular and seldom active. It is more
likely to erupt when a low pressure weather system works it way into
the area.

Normally the other geysers in this basin do
not erupt unless treated with soap, a practice which can damage the
geyser's plumbing system.
The earthquake of June 17th and 21st 2000 caused significant
changes in the basin,
The hot springs Konungshver (the king's hot spring) and Blesi (the
blazer) started to boil vigorously, up to 0,5-1 m. Both Óşerrishola
and Fata also started to erupt, and Fata sometimes twice a day.
Several new springs were born and the amount of water flowing from
others in the basin increased noticeably. And most important of all,
Geysir started with eruption again after a 65 year hiatus. These
were not as high as previous eruptions in 1935 but
encouraging.